i heart italy...and del Piero

It's no secret that I love all things Italian.

I've been to Italy twice in my life. The second time, when I was 24 I spent almost two months there living with an Italian man (in a homestay arrangement :) named Francisco and the other girls that boarded there, and I studied the language. That was at the end of my teacher training degree where I was qualified as a secondary Italian/History teacher.

I've spent only the one year teaching Italian, which is a bit sad but I still think in it a lot, especially when I'm writing.

My books (the many that I am writing :) are set in Italy or have Italian characters.

I've blogged about Venice and the women of the Renaissance. Even the Black Death in Italy has had a shoe-in at KV Writes.

And those of you who pop by regularly know that Orpheus is set during the Italian Renaissance. In all of its many guises, Orpheus has always been set in Italy, both present and past.

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My sister-in-law comes from an Italian background and her parents are amongst some of the sweetest people I know. (Prayers for Marie, Paula :)

This is my favourite book in the kitchen. We eat pasta in our house at least once or twice a week.

Yep, you could say that Italy has a pretty special place in my heart.

When I was 18 and studying the HSC I began to be mildly interested (okay I was obsessed, as in wake up at 530 in the morning to watch the games obsessed) in Serie A Italian Football. For some bizarre reason. Perhaps it was this:

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No, no I remember now. It was because of this:

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As an 18 year old I thought Alessandro Del Piero, a striker for the Turin football club Juventus and also on the Italian national team, Gli Azzurri during the World Cup of 1998, was just about the best thing ever.

In 2004 when I was living in Padova I asked the boys at the local bar who made my morning coffee how I would go about going to see a Juve game, because of course, I had to see Del Piero play. They told me it was hard to get tickets. And expensive. Too expensive for a student living on less than $20 a day. And so my dream of seeing him play was crushed. Actually the real dream was that he would see me in the stands and have to marry me there and then :)

But then I grew up and on. Started teaching Spanish, and then Italian, and then ESL. Got married and had some kids, none of whom were named after this luscious Italian God. And I suppose I forgot about him.

Until recently.

Because Alessandro Del Piero has landed on our sunny shores. Having signed with Sydney club Sydney FC earlier this year, he has already played three games.


Three games here. In Australia. Less than three hours away from me. Breathing the same air and looking up at the same southern sky.

So I'm already planning a family weekend trip to Sydney. What is a good age for children to start watching live football games? One month? Two? Does it even really matter?

A little slice of Italy on our doorstep. Yes please!!!

And I'll have a side of gelato with that thanks :)